Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Purchases 7,302 Shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation $COST

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in shares of Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) by 7.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 108,816 shares of the retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares during the period. Costco Wholesale comprises about 0.6% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Costco Wholesale were worth $107,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COST. Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 178,481 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $176,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,768 shares during the period. Security Financial Services INC. raised its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 10.4% in the second quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 489 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 11.9% during the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,882 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $15,722,000 after buying an additional 1,690 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its position in Costco Wholesale by 2.9% during the second quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 1,110 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $1,099,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Life Planners boosted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. Financial Life Planners now owns 2,800 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $2,771,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale from $1,140.00 to $1,134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, September 18th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $1,100.00 price objective on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,063.88.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

COST stock opened at $922.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $934.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $966.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Costco Wholesale Corporation has a 12-month low of $871.71 and a 12-month high of $1,078.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $409.05 billion, a PE ratio of 50.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 0.98.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 25th. The retailer reported $5.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.81 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $86.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.01 billion. Costco Wholesale had a return on equity of 30.09% and a net margin of 2.94%.The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Costco Wholesale Corporation will post 18.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 31st. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Costco Wholesale’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 3,381 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $915.00, for a total transaction of $3,093,615.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 9,740 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,912,100. This trade represents a 25.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Teresa A. Jones sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $992.05, for a total transaction of $595,230.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,343,222.10. The trade was a 20.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,320 shares of company stock worth $9,605,487. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.